Echoes of the Force
by WarpClaw
Summary: A novelization of the Hoth level in The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition. What if Starkiller had killed Darth Vader, taking his place at the Emperor's side? What if he led the attack on Echo Base on Hoth...and met Luke Skywalker? First fanfic! R&R.
1. Chapter 1

The massive AT-AT (All Terrain Armored Transport) walkers stomped across the snow-and-ice wasteland. 25 meters high, walking on four legs, moving at surprising speed for their vast size – 50 kilometers an hour on the flat terrain – they moved across the endless snowy plain, their laser cannon equipped heads swiveling from side to side, taking in the surrounding environment. In each of their bodies, they carried squadrons of elite stormtroopers from the prized 501st legion. Around their feet jogged the smaller, two-legged AT-STs (All Terrain Scout Transport), a standard precautionary measure against infantry.

The snow and ice fields extended endlessly in every direction around them...except for straight ahead. In that direction, buildings were coming into view on the horizon: shield generators, laser turrets, and spacecraft hangars.

They had found the rebel Echo Base.

The moment they saw the rebels, the rebels saw them. Alarms were sounded throughout the base. Alliance snowspeeders had been deployed and were converging on the invasion force. The walkers desperately tried to shoot them down, but the flying craft were much too small and fast for their weapons, which were made for ground targets anyway. The snowspeeders weren't having much success either: their light blaster attacks were having little effect on the heavy armour of the AT-ATs. They were trying to shoot at the weak point in the neck, but this was proving surprisingly difficult to do.

Suddenly, from the deployment platform of one of the AT-ATs something glowing bright red, spinning too quickly to be made out properly, flew out and arced through one of the snowspeeders, destroying it immediately, then returned to the platform and a clawed hand.

Lord Starkiller, the Emperor's assassin and successor of Darth Vader, plucked the lightsaber out of the air with his prosthetic claws and stowed it back on his belt.

He was a terrifying figure to behold, standing in the open compartment. His torso had been crushed years ago, moments after he killed and replaced Darth Vader, so he had been grafted to an exoskeleton for the sake of his continued survival. _Much like my old master_, he thought bitterly. He was completely enclosed in a black body glove. A metal ribcage covered his torso. His legs were hidden by a black leather floor-length combat skirt, although the heavy-duty black boots were visible when he walked or ran. His hands were mostly prosthetic, with just enough flesh left to channel the Force Lightning ability. For the icy environment, they had been gloved, but the large metal claws that extended from his fingers were left exposed. Scariest of all was the face supported above the metal-plated shoulders. Or, rather, the helmet that completely encased the face. With a Mandalorian-style T-shaped visor and Ubese mouthpiece, the well known mask of terror was good at inciting fear in most people. _And_ he stood almost seven feet tall.

He had been reconstructed to intimidate, to terrify, and to strike fear into the hearts of all those who dared oppose the Empire. And he did it well, backing up his looks with brutal fighting techniques and massive powers in the Dark Side of the Force.

Calmly he took a moment to survey the battle. When seeing the rebels in action, it was easy to see how they had proved such a nuisance o the Galactic Empire so far. Although their forces were small, they had talented pilots who knew how to effectively use their forces and commit devastating hit-and-run attacks.

He broke out of his thoughts and saw that he was at the drop point; here was where he was to be inserted to make his calculated blow against the Echo Base. He calmly stepped off the platform and dropped the 15 meters to the icy ground, breaking his fall perfectly with the Force and physical techniques. He then walked over and jumped into a shallow depression in the ground; in the deepest corner was a hole, the entrance to the ice caves that led to a side entrance to the base.

Suddenly a new event in the battle caught his attention: one of the snowspeeders had fired a tow cable harpoon into legs of an AT-AT and was circling around it, wrapping up its legs; promptly the massive walker fell with a crunch onto its chin. Moments later, all the snowspeeders converged upon the helpless target and it exploded in a dramatic fuel cell rupture.

The rebels were ingenious improvisers as well, it seemed. No matter, their two-pronged attack – the imperial military attacking from above and him attacking from below – would be more than sufficient to finish off this base, and probably the rebellion, for good.

The half-mechanical Sith Lord walked towards the hole, breaking into a run to avoid the snowspeeder that crashed and detonated not ten meters away. Suddenly, his comlink crackled, and a nervous, shaky voice came out.

"Erm, yes. Hello, uh, my Lord. This is Captain Keenah. I've been, uh, assigned as your liaison with the attack group." There was a pause, during which Starkiller leapt through the hole, finding himself in an icy tunnel through the ground. "Be assured that I'm aware of your, uh, strict policy regarding job performance. I won't let you down, my Lord."

_I hope not_, thought Starkiller, narrowing his eyes behind his helmet. Suddenly out of nowhere, a rock came flying and smashed to pieces on his armour, knocking him back a couple of paces. Clearing the debris from his helmet visor, he saw what had thrown the rock; standing there, bellowing at him, was some kind of seven-foot tall white-furred humanoid monster. This had to be one of the Wampas he had been warned about. The Wampa charged at him, claws outstretched, ready to tear through his armour like wet paper.

Calmly, the Dark Lord of the Sith lifted up his left hand and suddenly the Wampa was lifted into the air with an unseen force. It thrashed around, trying to do something, but it was effectively immobile in the air. Starkiller used the Force to call his lightsaber into his hand, ignite the red blade, and throw it at the Wampa; it viciously impaled its torso. Ignoring the creature's cries of pain, he called back into his hand and let loose with a savage burst of purple Force Lightning. He then used the Force to throw it the far wall, where the dark side energy coursing through its body exploded. Before the battered creature could get up, Starkiller dashed over to it and finished it off with a lightsaber blow to the skull.

His ignited lightsaber still in hand, held in his Shien style reverse grip, he ran round the corner and suddenly the claws of another Wampa were tearing into his armour. Blocking with his forearm, he dashed backwards, away from the beast...right into the arms of another one. The Wampa grabbed him, tore at him with its claws, then threw him on the ground so hard he bounced several meters away. His heads-up displays were giving warning signs on the conditions of his suit.

Pushing against the ground with his metal clawed hands, he got to his feet and faced down the two Wampas, who were already bellowing victory roars. _Okay, _now_ I'm angry_, he thought.

Just as the monsters charged towards him again, he let out a massive Force Repulse that pushed them back. Before they could recover, he swung with his lightsaber, the red blade cutting through both of them. While they roared in pain, he dashed back and shot Force Lightning from his hands, cutting into both of them. They would get no mercy; he electrocuted them until they died in hideous pain.

He then ran on; blasting through a wall of ice, he stepped into a cavern. To get to the ledge on the other side, he would have to jump across many pillars of ice. _Should be easy enough_, he thought. He took a running jump onto the nearest one, then-

Suddenly the ice pillar he had landed on crumbled and started to fall. With a yell of surprise, he stumbled on the failing pillar and barely managed to jump high enough to land on the next one. Just as he landed, that one started crumbling too. Hurriedly he jumped from one to the next, then the next. There were more than a few _almost_ moments. But then he was almost there, he was almost to safety. He made the last jump and-

Without the slightest warning, a rock, thrown by another couple of cursed Wampa, hit him and knocked him out of the air. He was falling, falling towards the bottomless icy pit below him, falling to his death...

Somehow, through a combination of luck, skill, desperation, and his affinities in the Force, he managed to twist in midair and grab the nearest intact pillar. He had never been gladder for his prosthetic claws, the only thing that allowed him to hold on. Even as the pillar cracked, crumbled, and started to fall, he pulled himself up and jumped as high as he could go, grabbing on to the edge of the next one, pulling himself up, dodging another Wampa thrown rock, and jumping to safety on a stable ledge. He dropped to his knees, panting with exhaustion and relief. On another ledge, the two Wampas who had thrown the rocks stood roaring at him. In a few moments, they would take it into their heads to jump over and start fighting him.

Just then, his comlink crackled and the voice of Captain Keenah came through, even shakier than last time. "Ahem...my Lord, scanners are indicating that the ice caverns through which you travel may be...a bit unstable."

_No kidding_, thought Lord Starkiller angrily as he looked back on the pillars that had crumbled away. The captain's voice continued, making him even angrier.

"It seems that the vibrations from our walkers may be...partly to blame. It's possible that I...overlooked this while planning your infiltration route."

"You have failed me for the last time, Captain Keenah" spoke Starkiller into the comlink for the first time coldly, his voice raspy, screechy, and mechanical.

"If that is the case, I assure I take full-"

The Sith Lord constricted his metal clawed fingers, and thousands of miles away in orbit, Captain Keenah felt them invisibly round his throat as they choked him to death.

Just then, the Wampas jumped across the chasm. Lord Starkiller thrust out his hands, and the Force stopped them in midair, sending them plunging to the same deaths, they had intended for him.

Taking no chances this time, the Sith settled into a meditative stance and checked for any Force signatures; he was pleased to find that that had been the last of the Wampas. Drawing his blade, he stalked across the cavern. And then, there in front of him, was the entrance to the Echo Base.


	2. Chapter 2

Lord Starkiller surveyed the entrance to Echo Base. It was an ordinary automatic metal door, but no doubt there would be some sort of protection against it...

At that moment, his comlink crackled into life again. A different voice spoke this time, yet it still had the same quality of fearful shakiness, of someone trying desperately to hold himself together. "Sir, this is Lieutenant Marsen. I see that you've...relieved Captain Keenah from duty. I'll be acting as your liaison with the battle group."

Starkiller didn't reply. He was too busy dealing with the dozen automatic turrets that had extended from the ground and were shooting at him. It was mainly a matter of shorting them out with Force Lightning or cleaving them through with the lightsaber while dashing out of the way of their laser blasts. When he had dispatched the last one, he walked up to the door. Experimentally he thrust the lightsaber blade towards it; it was deflected by a crackling blue force field. He closed his eyes and felt around with the Force until he found what he was looking for; in the next room, a shield generator was yanked out of the wall with the Force an as it fell to the ground, the shield protecting the door in front of Starkiller flickered out of life, leaving the entrance open.

The Sith heard blasters being fired and barely raised his lightsaber in time to deflect the bolts. Opening his eyes, he saw the two rebel soldiers bravely opening fire on him through the visor. One he killed by deflecting his own blaster bolt back into him, the other with three practiced strokes of the lightsaber; pathetically easy. Although, in a way, it was difficult not to admire the bravery with which they had attacked him, the Dark Lord of the Sith, to defend their cause. Oh well, time to get a move on.

The next few minutes were simple; kill all the rebel soldiers in the room, enter the next room, repeat. He was just finishing off a heavy gunner when the voice of Lieutenant Marsen through the comlink. "There's a squad of heavily armed rebels up ahead, my Lord. They may have and officer with them..."

There _was_ an officer in the next room.

He was wearing the baggy orange suit and white gloves and boots of a rebel X-wing pilot. He looked surprisingly young, with his fair hair and light blue eyes. He could have been mistaken for any other rebel pilot, right up to the moment when he pulled out a lightsaber and ignited the aqua blue blade. This was none other than Luke Skywalker.

"We meet at last...son of Vader" declared Lord Starkiller, his raspy and screechy voice containing some glee.

"You're _wrong_" Luke shot back. "My father was a great Jedi. Vader murdered him."

"So you haven't been told" murmured Starkiller with a tilt of the head, amusement entering his voice.

Before Luke could ask what he meant, the Sith had pulled out his red lightsaber and was running towards him with unnatural speed. Luke brought up his father's lightsaber to block. Red and blue met in a flash of light, then suddenly they were standing in front of each other, waiting for the next move.

The battle had begun.

Approximately sixty seconds later, the battle was over, and Starkiller was walking towards Luke on the ground, ready to stab him.

That's not to say Luke didn't put up a good fight. For when two vastly powerful fighting forces collide – in this case Lord Starkiller and Luke Skywalker – then every single move counts and can win or lose the fight. So much happens in such a short amount of time.

Starkiller had made the first move: he caught Luke off-guard with the Force and lifted him into the air. Before Luke could break out of the Force Grip, Stakiller zapped him with blue-purple Force Lightning, then threw him onto the wall, _very_ hard. So hard he bounced back into the middle of the room. When he touched the wall, the electricity actually intensified upon a connection with the ground. Taking the opportunity, Starkiller rushed in for the kill, but was surprised by a blue lightsaber flashing up, knocking his own red blade away and tearing into his suit. Before he could retaliate, Luke backflipped and threw the blue lightsaber; it impaled him through the chest before being pulled back into his white gloved hand.

Starkiller gritted his teeth behind the mask and examined the Heads-Up Display. Fortunately, the damage wasn't too bad; thanks to all the pain-tolerance lessons Vader had given him, he would be able to continue fighting.

He was rapidly brought out of his train of thought; Luke, emboldened by his success, was charging him with his blue lightsaber. The Sith responded by bringing up his red lightsaber and charging back. Promptly their ruby and aqua blades collided, and Starkiller realized that he had gotten himself into a bladelock.

A bladelock, or saberlock, usually occurs when lightsaber-wielding opponents both go for a chop along the length of the blade, and the weapons collide. They must each then try to push against their enemy's blade and gain enough leverage to overcome them. Withdrawing from an engaged bladelock is dangerous and often results in having the chest sliced open.

The two Force wielders stood there toe-to-toe, each struggling to gain leverage over the other as well as putting all their strength into pushing their lightsaber against the other's. This continued for many long seconds. Luke took his eyes away from the warring blades for one brief moment, and he was staring straight at the cold, menacing, soulless helm of his adversary, less than a foot away from his own face, and he flinched.

He flinched because he let the fear in.

It was only a momentary cringe, a brief hole in the defence he was putting up, but it was all Starkiller needed. The Dark Lord twisted his ruby blade against Luke's blue one, and levered it away, batting it to the side, leaving Luke wide open. He reached out with clawed, gloved hand, grabbed Luke's face, and hurled the young would-be Jedi into the air. Calling on the Dark Side, he jumped up after Luke and, while they were still airborne, grabbed him by the arm and flung him across to the far side of the room. The red-suited Skywalker hit the ground with a large crack and slid another meter before coming to rest. Starkiller, on the other hand, came down to the icy floor with a soft thump as he broke his fall with a soft bending of the knees, his combat skirt fluttering around him.

Starkiller stood up straight and watched as Luke slowly, painfully got to his feet. Somehow the youngster had managed to keep hold of his lightsaber. The Sith was running through all the different ways to kill the young Force-sensitive, trying to decide on one; death by electrocution, by a crushing Force Push, or by a simple lightsaber thrust? He settled on the final one and advanced on Luke raising his bright red blade to deliver the death blow.

"You-you're better than this!" Luke cried out. "I can sense the good in you!"

Starkiller froze mid-step, lightsaber raised. Neither of the two moved a muscle for many seconds. Luke searched in vain for any sign of emotion in the Sith, but the Mandalorian-Ubese hybrid helmet hid any reaction. Suddenly, Starkiller moved again, stalking towards Luke with clear murderous intent. Luke turned around and made for the nearest blast doors in a half-running, half-stumbling motion. A dozen paces behind him, Lord Starkiller drew on the Dark Side of the Force, and tripped Luke over.

Luke fell to the ground. He despaired; the situation seemed hopeless. He was weak and his concentration required for use of the Force against Starkiller was gone. There was no way for him to get up in time before the rapidly advancing agent of the Dark Side speared him.

Then he realized he still had one last card to play. He rolled onto his back and mentally reached into the never-ending nebulae that pulsated through all the living, and turned the power against the reinforced yellow metal door that had gone unnoticed during the fight. Even as it buckled and bent out of its frame, Lord Starkiller made the final step and closed the gap between them. He was about to stab when a huge hairy mass of white fur, horns, and fangs barrelled out of the doorway and into the Sith Lord, knocking him across the room like a rag doll. He probably didn't even know what had hit him.

Luke struggled to his feet as two more of the Wampas that had been kept prisoner by the Rebels stormed out of the doorway and towards the insidious Sith. He picked up his lightsaber and staggered through the blast doors. The roars of the Wampas, the angry cursing of Lord Starkiller, and the hum-buzz of a lightsaber were cut off as the heavy doors closed automatically behind him.

Starkiller finished off the last Wampa with a lightsaber thrust to the head, then sat down and took a few moments to catch his breath. _So, Skywalker has escaped_. It had only taken a few seconds to kill the three Wampas (he was really, really starting to hate the infernal creatures) but it had been enough for the young rebel commander to escape; he would be long gone by now.

His comlink beeped and the voice of Lieutenant Marsen came through it. "Was that Commander Skywalker, my Lord? The Emperor would prefer that he be taken alive, I-if possible".

"I'll bear _that_ in mind, Lieutenant" said Starkiller simply. He got up and walked over to the blast doors that Luke had gone through. He raised his hands and called on the Force, building up and compressing the energy between his hands, then released it in a massive burst towards the blast doors. The metal buckled under the impact, leaving a gap just wide enough for him to squeeze through. Beyond was jet another of the Echo Base's many icy corridors. He listened; in the distance he could hear shouting and blaster fire, but there was no immediate danger.

He stood quite still, half-mechanical arms dangling at his sides, fingers curled up, considering his next move. His prime directive was to make it to the main aircraft and spacecraft hangar, disable the vehicles there, and capture their Princess. (What was her name again? Organa...Leia Organa, wasn't it?) But Skywalker intrigued him...after all he was the son of Vader, Starkiller's old master. He would most like to hunt down and possibly kill Skywalker himself. The Emperor would not be pleased – Starkiller could already hear the stinging rebuke he would be given, probably punctuated with a burst of Force Lightning.

After a few minutes standing there, he came to a decision: he would go after Skywalker, damn the consequences. He tapped the button on his left forearm, activating the comlink and patching him through to his Liaison, Marsen.


End file.
